Taking Chances
by darkfaeriedust7290
Summary: When Del met Colby, it was love at first sight. But when the events of the Janus list occur, Del is suddenly thrown into a world that she had not bargained for.This story can be a bit confusing because the timeline jumps around a bit.
1. Just Like A Pill

_A/N: Hiya. This is a Colby fanfic. Yay! There's honestly not enough out there about Colby, so I decided I'd write this for him. Unfortunatly, I don't own any of the Numb3rs characters, but I do own Del. So back off. I've been known to make fanfic spinoffs, so if you wanna make a spin off of this **when I'm done, **feel free to ask. I don't bite. Unless you're Colby. _

_I know that Colby isn't bad, but for now he's gonna be believed to be a traitor. So deal. Uhm...I would like very much to be an agent of the FBI someday, so I'll try to get everything as accurate as possible, but I do make mistakes. Don't be afraid to piss me off by correcting me. You will probably do it anyways if you correct me, but I'll be happy for the correction so I don't look stupid. _

_Other than that, I hope you enjoy the Colby-ness. He's mine, but I'll share for a little while. Eventually I'll be looking for a girl for David. He doesn't get enough, which is why I think he's being an ass to Colby lately. So, I'll let you know when I need one and you David lovers can go nuts. _

* * *

"I'll run just as fast as I can to the middle of nowhere, to the middle of my frustrated fears"

-Pink

**En Route to FBI Safehouse**

**Long Beach, California**

**April 7, 2007**

**8:14 PM**

He always taunted her for flinching when she fired her gun. She couldn't even attempt to count the number of times they'd been in the FBI's indoor practice range at night during a particularly frustrating case and she had heard him snickering as she shot. In defense she would look over at him and glare, occasionally flip him a bird, or, if he was really lucky, she'd give him a really good insult. She liked to tell him he was bad in bed. That always made him shut up. Granted, later on, either that night or that week, she would be moaning his name, disproving her point.

She wondered if she would flinch if she had to fire her gun at him. She'd love to see the look on the bastards face then.

Del Banning tightened the bulletproof vest she was wearing and quickly put her hair up in the large clip that she kept with her at all times. She looked to her left and saw that her partner, Don Eppes, was clutching the steering wheel so hard that she thought he would break it. She sighed and looked out the window at the beach. They were nearing the safe house and then she would have to point her gun at a man she loved, a man she shared a bed, a house, and occasionally a bowl of ice cream with. A man whose ring she was wearing.

Del was beginning to like Colby Granger less and less with every passing second.

**012345678901234567890123456789012345678901234567890123456789012345678901234567890123456789012345678901234567890**

_**2349 Brentwood Park**_

_**Brentwood, L.A.**_

_**December 19, 2006**_

_**10:39 PM**_

_Del slid Colby's old white t-shirt over her head and undid her jeans, letting them fall down to her ankles before kicking them off. She picked them and her tank top up off of the floor and took them over to the empty clothes basket and dropped them in. She yawned widely and continued to make her way out of the bedroom and down the stairs to the livingroom. Colby had already taken off his shoes, socks and shirt and was sitting on the couch in just his jeans with his feet up on the coffee table. _

_He had the TV on ESPN, probably just so that he could try to catch some scores from the game that they had missed earlier. Del watched him for a while, in a sort of awe that she had managed to win over a guy like him. Someone who was strong, respectful, hard-working and who could care for her, both physically and emotionally. This was a man who had gone over seas to risk his life for his country, and had returned just so that he could continue to have his life threatened by more sophisticated and precise terrorists. _

_He was her man. _

_Her bare feet slowly padded over the hardwood floor of the hall and she stepped onto the carpet of the livingroom and made her way to the couch. She sat next to him and curled her feet up under herself, letting her head rest on his muscular chest. He instinctively wrapped his arm around her shoulders and leaned his cheek against the top of her head. She nuzzled his neck and laid two soft kisses in the small indentation between his collar bones before putting her ear right in the middle of his chest so that she could hear his heart beat. _

_He suddenly spoke, making her jump._

_"You okay, Del?" he asked, and she could feel him move slightly and she knew he was looking at her. She looked up into his green eyes and smiled. "Yeah, babe. I'm fine. Just a little tired." He looked at her with a slightly suspicious gaze and nodded. She leaned up and kissed him, first a soft peck and then with more feel. He slowly moved the hand that had been resting on the arm of the couch to her cheek, and then to entangle in her hair. She reached up and let her fingers gently run along his jawline to his chin as she pulled away._

_She looked into his lust filled eyes and brought her legs out from under her so that she could swing one around his waist. She looked deep into his eyes and then lowered her mouth onto his. He quickly put his hands on her waist beneath the shirt and Del sighed. _

_This. _

_Was._

_Heaven._

**012345678901234567890123456789012345678901234567890123456789012345678901234567890123456789012345678901234567890**

**Interrogation Room 5**

**FBI Headquarters, 14th Floor**

**L.A., California**

**9:24 PM**

Del doubted she would ever walk into this interrogation room again without invisioning Colby sitting at the table. As she stood in the observation room, surrounded by moniters that were hooked up to cameras that showed Colby and Don from almost any angle feasable, her legs began to get weak. She felt Megan put her arm around her shoulder and suddenly the tears came. As she heard him confess, Del wished that she had never met Colby, for if she had never met him, he wouldn't be causing her this much pain.

Suddenly she heard her name mentioned. She looked up just as Don repeated his question.

"Where you really in love with Del, or was it a ploy?" Don nearly yelled. Colby closed his eyes and rocked his head back. He sighed and the divulged "The plan was for me to get extremely close to an agent who had access to higher security files so that I could get information. Not for me to fall in love." At that statement, Del pushed past Megan and David and sprinted to the door of the interrogation room. With tears streaming from her deep brown eyes, she quickly walked around the table to face Colby and planted the palms of her hands firmly on the table. Leaning over the table until she was a mear 8 inches or so from Colby's face she took on the coldest voice possible.

"You may not have loved me, but I love you. And I hate that. I hate the way you can just sit there and explain this with a straight face. I hate that you don't have a care in the world. I hate that stupid pathetic excuse that you made whe you missed our anniversary date. I hate your favorite shirt and your stupid big shoes and that ugly old baseball glove you keep on the dresser. But you know what I hate most of all?"

She lifted her left hand and flashed the large diamond in his face. "I hate that I'll never be able to take this off because I will never be able to stop loving you...never be able to hate you." Breathing heavy, she asked Colby what he was going to do when the Chinese had enough information, or what he would do if she started to suspect him of something.

He looked down and licked his lips before lifting emerald green up to meet chocolate brown. "I was given orders to terminate you via toxins. The Chinese were going to deliver a lethal dose of tetrodotoxin and I was to give it to you to ingest should you become suspicious." Del suddenly forgot how to breathe. Her entire chest locked up and she slowly stood, only to find that her legs would only hold her for a few seconds. As she fell to her knees, she took in a deep shuddering breath and the room began to swim.

Then, black.


	2. When The Stars Go Blue

_A/N: Yo readers. Uh, the very end of this chapter is kinda graphic. Okay, it's really graphic._ _If you don't like graphic schtuff then skip down to the paragraph that's bolded with in front of it. _

_Also, Don and Del seem like theres a little something going on between them, but there isn't. They're just incredibly close. Hey, they're partner's. What do you expect? Also, I've gotten some comments about Cobly being a good guy and that I'm mean making him a bad guy. So, to you, yes, I know Colby's a good guy. Colby's freaking amazing, but in the end of the third season, you thought he was a bad guy too. That's when this is taking place. The next chapter will be closer to now. _

_Peace out._

**

* * *

**

_"Where do you go when you're lonely? Where do you go when you're blue?"_

**4658 Eaton Street, Apt. 43**

**Glendale, CA**

**April 8, 2007**

**9:17 AM**

When Del awoke she didn't know where she was, until she turned over and found herself face to face with Don. She slowly sat up and ran her hand over her face, grimacing at the stale taste in her mouth. She glanced over at Don, who was lying on his stomach with only his jeans on. He had one arm under the pillows and the other was laying across her lap.

She hoped that they hadn't done what she thought. She put her hand on his back and shook him, drawing a groan from him as he turned his head so that he could see her. She stared at him with hesitant eyes, asking him the dreaded question with just her gaze. He slowly turned onto his back and sat up.

"Don't worry. We didn't have sex. I brought you here after you passed out and I didn't want anything to happen to you so I slept in here. At first I was on the floor but it got really uncomfortable, so I came up on the bed. I didn't think you'd mind." he said, and Del could breathe again. She looked and him with sad eyes. "So last night wasn't a dream." she whispered.

Don shook his head no and wrapped a muscular arm around her shoulders. She looked him in the eye, brown to brown, and said, again in a whisper, "I was really, really happy."

And she started to sob uncontrollably. Don turned and wrapped both arms around her and she sobbed into his chest. "Shhhh...Del. It's okay. If a guy will lie to a woman as amazing as you, he's clearly an idiot. The only guy whose ever worth your tears won't make you cry." he said, kissing the top of her head.

Del continued to sob for a solid 15 minutes before she slowly sat upright and wiped her drenched face and sniffled. "You better?" asked Don, leaning down to look around the curtain of brown that swept over Del's face. She slowly nodded and Don ran his hand over the back of her head and kissed her temple before getting up and heading to the bathroom.

Del looked at her left hand and saw that the ring was still on her finger. She had to call Colby's mom and brothers to tell them what had happened before they found out from the press. She flopped back down in bed and waited for Don to come back out of the bathroom before throwing the covers off of her legs and pretty much rolling out of the bed.

When she stood up straight, she noticed she was in a huge wife beater and a pair of boxers that were huge on her. "Don, you fat ass! These are practically falling off!" she giggled and Don looked up offended at her words. She looked at him and giggled some more before a look of horror crossed her face.

"You undressed me!" she said, pointing a finger at him accusingly. Don simply shrugged and went back to finding the shirt he was looking for. Del rolled her eyes and headed into the bathroom to do her morning business. After brushing her teeth with a spare (still packaged) toothbrush and stealing some of Don's mouthwash, Del headed out into the bedroom again to find her clothes when she saw Liz Warren sitting on the bed.

"Lizzie!!!!!" yelled Del, before pouncing on her in a huge hug. Now, most would think that since Liz and Don were together that Liz would be jealous of Del's incredibly close relationship, but once they saw how Liz and Del acted together they would know that they were best friends. As soon as they had met when the Roberts kid had been killed at the racetrack it was like they were long lost sisters who had found each other again.

Don was surprised that Del had even approved of Liz, so he was floored when his ultimate best friend was ecstatic that he had found a woman worthy of him.

When Del and Liz separated, Liz put a hand on Del's shoulder and asked her if she was okay. The happy smile on her face slowly turned to a sad smile and Del looked down at her folded hands. Don and Liz locked eyes and Don saw sympathetic tears filling Liz's eyes. Del looked up as a tear rolled down her cheek and she smiled. "I'm as good as is expected." she said.

Liz hugged Del and they both started to cry, so Don left and decided he'd make some breakfast. He headed to the kitchen and started searching for something edible and found a box of pancake mix in his cabinet and some syrup. Upon closer inspection to his fridge he had a carton of drinkable orange juice and some still fresh blueberries that he guessed Liz had bought for him so that he would have at least some form of a land-made food, not just man-made processed carbohydrates.

When he was almost finished with the pancakes, Del and Liz walked into the kitchen and sat down at the table. Don noted that Del was back in her jeans from last night and she had taken one of his button-ups and thrown it on over the wifebeater. Once Don had gotten the last pancake off of the skillet he brought the towering stack to the table along with three plates. Del got up and grabbed two mugs out of the cabinet and grabbed the bottle of syrup off the counter and Liz grabbed the pot of coffee.

When Del sat back down, Liz was pouring her a cup of coffee and Don had already put three pancakes on her plate and was in the process of pouring syrup on them. Del looked from one agent to the other, trying to decide whether she wanted to say something or if she should just let them pamper her. Deciding on the latter, Del leaned back as Don began to even cut up her pancakes for her.

That's when Liz started staring at him too. Both women were leaning back in their chairs, arms folded, Liz with her legs crossed and Del with one leg tucked under her when Don slid Del's plate back in front of her and looked up at them. First he looked at Liz who had one eyebrow raised and then at Del, who had a look of total amusement on her face.

"Well, are you gonna feed me now mom?"

At that, Don, Liz and Del all cracked up and Don mock glared at Del, who simply smiled and forked two pieces of pancake into her mouth. Don and Liz began to eat and Del realized just how lucky she was.

She then sent up a little prayer to the powers that be thanking them for blessing her with her friends. Because without them she would be completely lost.

**0123456789012345678901234567890123456789012345678901234567890123456789012345678901234567890**

_**2349 Brentwood Park**_

**_Brentwood, LA_**

**_April 6, 2007_**

**_11:25 PM_**

_Del ran a hand over her stomach as she lay on the king sized bed. She didn't think it would be long before Colby was home, and grinned when she heard the front door open and close. The muffled sound of her lover dropping his phone, badge, gun, and cuffs on the coffee table made her heart race. He was on his way up the stairs as she sat up, and opening the door when she slid the silk robe off of her shoulders. Her bare shoulders. _

_Colby grinned and slowly walked to the foot of the bed, keeping eye contact with Del. Del slowly rose to her knees and moved to the end of the bed, where she slowly undid the buttons on his jacket and slid them off of Colby's shoulders. She tossed it to the floor and removed his tie as well as his shirt. Once the shirt was off of him and he was in just his pant and shoes, Colby lifted Del's chin and pressed his lips to hers. _

_The fire started immediately and spread from Del's lips all the way to her feet. As the assault on his mouth intensified, Colby kicked off his shoes and toed off his socks as Del undid his belt and pants blindly. While sending his pants down to the floor with the help of gravity, Del gently grazed his manhood and that was all it took to send Colby's psyche whirling._

_He wrapped his arms around her waist, not once breaking the kiss, and lifted her up so that she could wrap her legs around his waist. When he felt her on his lower stomach, he let out and animalistic growl and he threw her back onto the bed so that he could undo the tie on the robe and she could shake it off of her shoulders. When the robe had been thrown to join Colby's attire, Del went back to kissing Colby, who had conveniently slid off his own boxers. _

_Colby slowly moved his mouth to her neck, sucking, drawing a hickey that she knew she would have to hide from Don the next day. But that's not what she was thinking about. She was thinking about Colby's hands; His right was running up and down her side, from the side of her breast to her hip, but his left. Oh, his left hand was slowly making it's way down her abdomen to her spot. _

_When Colby's fingers reached their destination, Del moaned Colby's name and she dug her fingers into his back. He lifted his head and captured her lips in another kiss before looking into her eyes, which were dark with lust and what Colby would later know as true, undying, honest-to-God love. When he slid a second finger into her, she threw back her head and moaned again._

_When Colby slid his fingers out of her, Del looked into his green eyes and mock glared, which, with her light quick breaths and the hand on his lower back, simply turned Colby on even more. He felt he spread her legs, begging him to enter her with the manhood he had pressed to her thigh. He smiled and positioned himself so that he could comply. When he pushed into her, Del let out a high pitched moan and dug her nails into his back yet again, this time drawing blood._

_As Colby continued to thrust into her, he rocked back onto his knees and Del wrapped her hands around his neck and met him in his rhythmic pounding. When Del put her head back, Colby assaulted it with kisses and nips. Just as Del leaned her head forward, she felt a tingling at the base of her spine and she leaned her head onto Colby's shoulder and started to kiss his neck. As the muscles in Del's pelvic area started to spasm with her orgasm, she felt Colby tighten up before spilling his seed deep into her. __Colby moaned Del's name and he slowly fell_ _forward. _

_**He rolled off of Del and pulled the blanket that lay folded at the end of the bed up over himself and Del. Del turned onto her side and ran her hand over Colby's arm, cuing him silently to face her, which he did. He put his hand on her waist and smiled at her, earning a return smile and soft kiss. Del pulled away and took Colby's hand, placing it on her heart. He felt as her heart rate slowed, and they stayed like that for a good 5 minutes. **_

_**Then, Del opened her mouth. "This is beating for you, Colby James Granger. And it always will." she whispered before snuggling up to his chest. He wrapped both of his arms around her and held her tight. **_

_**As they drifted off to sleep, neither of them knew what would soon happen. They didn't know that in about 18 hours Charlie and Amita would discover the planted list in Naomi Vaughn's mailbox and Colby would be sitting on the wrong side of the interrogation table or that Del would be waking up in Don's apartment for the next 5 weeks because she wouldn't be allowed in her own house.**_

_**They didn't know that the next 5 weeks would be the most trying period of their relationship.** _


End file.
